11/07/2012

Wedding bells ring in talk of Prince Harry reuniting with ex-flame

Several regal types are passengers on the royal train this day, bringing aboard koalas, poppies and brides ...

But lets start with the brides, or rather the potential bridesmaid and best man.

Tom van Straubenzee, one of Prince Harry's best friends, is getting married to Lady Melissa Percy, 25, next summer, it has been announced. The bride happens to be best friends with Chelsy Davy, Harry's ex-girlfriend but still very much in the bachelorette pool.

Tongues will be wagging at the possibility of Harry re-igniting the Chelsy spark. Like Harry and Chelsy, the bethrothed broke up for a time, but, unlike the ill-fated Harry-Chelsey, got back together last May.

If that's not enough gossip talk, there's always Lady Melissa's brother George, who is a very good friend and once-rumoured suitor of one Pippa Middleton. We can also stir in Pippa's sister Kate and her husband Prince William, all chummy-chummy with both bride and bridegroom.

It's a small world, indeed, this universe of young royals on the march. And no need to worry about the newlyweds starting out on the right foot. Van Straubanzee, 29, runs a property agency and the Percys are one of the richest families in England. Van Straubanzee has been friends with Prince Harry since prep school, even helping his royal pal with the best man's speech at the wedding of William and Kate.

This is going to be a heck of a wedding ... a surefire society summer blockbuster. It may even be held at the bride's parents' manor, Alnwick Castle, home to the Duke of Northumberland and recognizable to millions as Hogwarts from the Harry Potter films.

This is fairytale stuff ... Prince Harry's could end up holding Chelsy's glass slipper, or at least fight off a dragon or two.

QUEEN VISITS POPPY FACTORY

Remembrance Day is always very special on the Royal Family calendar. The royal ties to the military are long, and stories of their steadfast behaviour during the Second World War are legendary.

Queen Elizabeth, who served briefly with the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945 (right), made one of her many Remembrance stops this week at the Royal British Legion's Poppy Factory (above photo).

The establishment in Richmond, southeast England, has been an official manufacturer of poppies since 1922. This year -- marking its 90th anniversary -- workers have already made 12 million poppies and 107,000 wreaths. The 86-year-old monarch last visited the factory in 1992 to mark its 70th birthday.

Queen Elizabeth leaves the Poppy Factory after seeing the manufacturing of the
iconic red emblem of the British Legion's annual poppy appeal at the
company headquarters in Richmond, London, on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

GRIN AND BEAR IT, CAMILLA

Camilla looks a bit worried about holding a koala called Matilda, but she soon warmed to the task while visiting Government House with Prince Charles on Wednesday in Adelaide, Australia. (Getty Images)

You can't possibly go to Australia with a photo-op with a koalas. The cuddly creatures made squirmy props for Prince Charles and Camilla on Wednesday as they visited Adelaide in Australia on their two-week tour that also includes Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

Prince Charles, ever the practical one, made a crack about the koala's supposedly weak bladder as he was handed 4-year-old Kao. "Something ominous will run down," he said.

"They've got their nappies on," noted Camilla.

The royals kept a brisk pace for their visit to Adelaide and Melbourne, dropping in on Government House (and welcomed by aboriginals, right), visiting schools and a winery.

It was an especially important day for Camilla, who spoke at a reception in
Melbourne about osteoporosis, a bone disease that killed both her mother and grandmother.

"The message I'd love to get over is to make young people aware of how
important it is in their teenage years to take exercise, to eat properly, to
not diet too strongly because it will catch up with you as you get older," said the Duchess.

"I watched my mother and grandmother die of this disease and no one knew
what this disease was."

Comments

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G'Day, sorry for being picky, but just need to correct a small common misunderstanding with regard to our native animals. KOALA's are marsupials, not mammals, and have NEVER been known as BEARS. They are just plain old KOALAS... Thx

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